The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon

Manchester: Hudson Hills Press, 2006. First Edition. Hardcover. VG/VG (Inscribed and signed by author on title half page). Navy blue stamped cloth, gilt letters on spine, brown & color illustrated dust jacket, 303 pp., 200 color plates, 54 BW illus. "Mount Vernon, George Washington's private residence for more than forty years, is one of the most recognizable great homes in the United States and one of the nation's first efforts in historic preservation. Since 1860 Washington's Virginia estate has been owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Through their efforts, and the generosity of countless donors and lenders, the Mount Vernon collections at present include nearly 30,000 objects owned by George and Martha Washington or associated with their lives and legacies." "The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon provides the first official publication of this collection at George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens. Selected silver, ceramics, glass, furniture, textiles, metals, paintings, and miniatures, as well as personal items, are presented in the context of Washington's life as a Virginia planter, commander in chief, United States president, and retired public servant. From his purchasing habits of the 1750s through his retirement from public service in 1797, George Washington defined each of his roles in Colonial and Federal America." "The introductory essays and one hundred beautifully illustrated catalogue entries combine to provide a window into the well-appointed but understated world of America's first president and his wife, Martha, her children, and grandchildren, a world very much dependent upon African American slaves who worked the land and helped maintain the household. this publication also presents the fine and decorative arts painted, crafted, and preserved to honor and memorialize George Washington."--BOOK JACKET.